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Finland had declared independence from what was the former Russian Empire, at that time embroiled in the Russian Civil War, on 6 December 1917. At the time of the declaration of independence, monarchists were a minority in the Finnish Parliament, and Finland was declared a republic. A civil war followed, and afterwards, while the pro-republic Social Democratic Party was excluded from the Parliament and before a new constitution was adopted, Frederick was elected to the throne of Finland on 9 October 1918.

Replica of the Crown designed for the Finnish monarch. The actual crown was never made, this replica was made from original drawings in the 1980s [1]

Independent Finland initially had, like the Baltic provinces, close ties with the German Empire. Germany was the only international power that had supported the preparations for independence, not the least by training volunteers as Finnish Jäger troops. Germany had also intervened in the Finnish Civil War, despite her own precarious situation. Finland's position vis-à-vis Germany was already evolving towards that of a protectorate by Spring 1918, and the election of Prince Frederick, brother-in-law of Wilhelm II, was viewed as a confirmation of the close relations between the two nations.

By 9 November 1918, Wilhelm II had abdicated and Germany was declared a republic. Two days later, on 11 November 1918, the armistice between the belligerents of World War I was signed. Little is known of the Allied powers' view regarding the possibility of a German-born prince as the King of Finland. However, warnings received from the West convinced the Finnish government of Prime Minister Lauri Ingman – a monarchist himself – to ask Prince Frederick to give up the crown, which he officially had not yet come to wear in Finland.

The king-elect Frederick renounced the throne on 14 December 1918. Republican parties won three quarters of the parliament's seats in the election of 1919 and Finland subsequently adopted a republican constitution.

During World War I, the German Empire participated in the creation of various client states in territories that had formerly belonged to Russia. These states were nevertheless nominally fully independent and sovereign: